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Georgetown, GINA, February 9, 2010

Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud who is currently attending a meeting in California, United States of America, to discuss how Geographical Information System (GIS) can be used as a tool to support the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) has managed to garner the approval for a $40M state-of-the-art GIS software from the Environmental Systems Research Institute ( ESRI) and the University of Redlands.
Minister Persaud in his address, said that the GIS is extremely important to Guyana especially in natural resource management, vulnerability assessment, flood hazard mapping, agricultural insurance and combating climate change.
The Minister said that Guyana is a relatively large country, with a small population of less than three-quarters of a million people, of which 90 percent live on the coastal plain below sea level, giving rise to annual flood hazards.
“With this type of geography in mind, we may reflect on the larger context in which we see the need and role of GIS in Guyana's economic development,” he said.
The Minister said that the innovative approach encapsulated in the LCDS, is based on the fact that tropical deforestation accounts for almost one-fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming that ultimately lead to rise in sea level.
“Guyana's pristine rainforest provides ecosystem and climate regulation services to the world, but we do not receive any payments for these services, and so our development has been traditionally based on financial returns from logging of these forests,” the Minister posited.
He asserted that the strategy proposes to continue the sustainable management and conservation of Guyana's forests in exchange for climate financing based on the forests' true value. These financial flows will be used
to invest in economic activities that do not emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide.
Minister Persaud disclosed that Guyana is at the forefront in the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (the FCPF) initiative, and have begun to implement a Readiness Preparation Proposal (RPP).
An essential component of the initiative is the establishment of
a MRV system to meet international standards. This is a pre-requisite for accessing climate related financing; one that will allow the international community to independently verify the forest carbon stocks and flux over time.
He said that such a system will require accurate mapping of the forest resources, forest carbon biomass and continuous monitoring of deforestation and forest
degradation.
“It will rely heavily on GIS in conjunction with remote sensing, herein lies our deep interest in exploring what ESRI has to offer, a world class geographic information system, customized to our forest management needs, is essential for establishing a credible monitoring, reporting and verification system,” Minister Persaud said.
Currently GIS is used in many key sectors in Guyana, these include: the Forestry Commission (GFS), Lands and Survey Commission, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Central Housing and Planning Authority, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Ministry of Agriculture and the University of Guyana (UG).
Minister Persaud said that a key development in GIS in Guyana has been the drafting and adoption of a GIS policy by the Lands and Surveys Commission. He added that this was followed by the establishment of an inter-agency technical working group that ensures coordination and standardization among the agencies.
“Our country suffers from floods due to intense precipitation as well as marine inundation; we have a need for vulnerability assessment, flood mapping and modelling to manage the risks,” the Minister noted.
He pointed that this vulnerability can have devastating effects on yields and production on the Agriculture sector which is the largest contributor to Guyana's economy.
“We are therefore currently working on developing a risk management strategy, which will possibly comprise agricultural insurance as well, where GIS is expected
to play a significant role,” he said.
However, he identified the greatest need for GIS in the area of remote sensing in developing a comprehensive MRV system for forest carbon accounting.
Minister Persaud said that since Guyana has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Norway, much progress has been made in an MRV design development of Terms of Reference (TORs) for the establishment of the system.
The Minister expressed the hope that Guyana and the ESRI can maintain a long-term association that will see both parties benefiting from the application of new technology. He also extended an invitation to the ESRI encouraging them to explore further areas of collaboration.
In 2009, Guyana hosted a forum on ESRI. This saw the initial assessment being made of the country's current state of GIS.
The Minister was accompanied by Presidential Advisor on Land and Environment Matters, Andrew Bishop and Head of the GIS Department of the GFS, Jagdesh Singh.
ESRI is the world's leading GIS software company which has been developing GIS software and knowledge for 40 years with the mission to support users in the successful implementation of GIS.